Forbidden Planet

Well ... maybe not. Forbidden Planet has new space-time coordinates. You can find it, in all its infancy (for the time being - eventually it will grow up) here . I have no plans to move this blog and its contents over (ok, maybe I might move 1 or 2 things). Image nabbed from here

Over the summer I saw a bunch of movies with the kids and here are my reviews of them: Prince Caspian A movie with no plot, no substance, just lots of fighting. To give you idea of how violent the movie is, whenever I asked the kids what they were watching on TV they would reply, "Don't worry, it's not as violent as Prince Caspian." I think the movie can be summed up as follows: Susan: (Examining the ruins of Narnia) "What happened here?" Peter: "I don't know, but lets go thump something" Lucy: "Shouldn't we wait for Aslan?" Peter: "Aslan's not coming. Let's go thump something." (One epic battle gone wrong, a macho hand-to-hand battle gone well for the hero , and in the midst of another epic battle going wrong, Lucy comes across Aslan.) Aslan: "Why didn't you wait for me?" (Lucy looks shamefaced.) Aslan: (Laughing) "Ok, let's go find your friends and help them thump someone." The...

I was laid off last Wednesday (27-August-2008) - for economic, not performance reasons. Not that I am upset or shocked or dazed and confused. It was a great company to work for, I was well treated and respected. I had no complaints (except that possibly the work was not always as stimulating as I hoped). It renders some decision making a bit easier. Clearly I will be moving to Montreal now, instead of Sofia coming to Ottawa. Sofia and my dad (especially my dad) seem more shocked by this than I am. My dad even dropped by on the weekend to try and cheer me up, gave me the "blessing in disguise" sermon. I don't believe in blessings in disguise. I don't think God plays mind games with people. "Oh look, you have cancer. Isn't that a blessing in disguise?" Erm ... no. Sofia is wondering what happened. "They loved you. You said the company was doing well. It is so cold and brutal." Well, yeah, they did like me and they treated me well. Yes, the compan...

You are The Fool Idea, thought, spirituality, that which endeavours to rise above the material. The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out. Meme nabbed from Around The World In Beautiful Shoes . Although Tena also has it on her blog(scroll down, it is on the left side).

Amazing what you can find on Google Maps . I just discovered today that people put links to all sorts of pictures and videos on the map (I had to select My Maps to be able to enable this). Found a video of a "dancing" porcupine at the EcoMuseum near where we live (about 7.5Km or 5 miles). You can take a virtual tour here or look at some photos I have previously posted .

Earlier this week (07-April-2008), Forbidden Planet became a 3 year old toddler. Over a period of 1101 days, I have managed 556 posts (including this one). Not as prolific as some bloggers, but I think averaging one post every two days isn't too bad. My ground rules for posting are pretty simple: no more than 1 post per day (I have broken this rule 3 times, I think) keep the posts concise. My fictitious goal is 3 paragraphs avoid repetition leave the reader with something to think about I hope the approach I take to blogging is similar to what Lister Sinclair expressed about the way he approached the production of Ideas : (paraphrase) "I assume the listener is intelligent and very knowledgeable in all subject matters, except the one I am presenting." I think I have been reasonably successful. Some of my favourite posts over the past 3 years (there is no rhyme or reason to their selection, except that they came quickly to mind and I like them): Evolution of a Peeve What ...

A week or two ago Jason asked, "What is 10 minus 100?" "Minus 90," I said. "No, it's zero," he said. "If you have 10 and you take away 100, then you take away all 10 and you have zero. Ha Ha! I'm cool, you're not!" He is always asking about numbers and seems to be pretty good at math. A few weeks ago he surprised me by asking for my dad's age and then my age and almost immediately working out the difference (68 - 41 = 27). I was pretty impressed because that is pretty good for a 6 year old.

Last week was a rather hectic as I commuted daily between Ottawa and Montreal (200Km each way or 1600Km in total or 120L of gas) because Sofia was in Brazil and that left me to take care of the kids (same thing happens next week when she goes to Panama). So opportunities to blog were rather scarce. This week, I have to play catch up at work on hours missed last week. I am not out of ideas, just out of energy to blog. bleh. Anyway ... I was in Chapters this past Monday and went to the magazine rack to look at magazines. I picked a glossy one ( Circuit Cellar ) and it was warm. It felt very nice in my hands and evoked a very pleasant emotional rsponse. I didn't have my infrared pyrometer with me (even if I did, I would have felt self conscious pulling it out to measure the temperature of the magazines, the shelving and lights), but I would estimate it at having been somewhere between 30C and 35C (based on measuring the temperature of my hands later on and remembering that the magaz...

Recently I purchased the Fly Fusion Pentop Computer , just because it looked so cool (and I had some spare money to spend). It is pretty cool. To get best handwriting recognition out of it, you do have to print in a fairly clear manner, which I can, though it is a bit of an effort and slows me down as I consciously try to form the various letters. On the other hand, the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology is pretty good if you print nicely. If you don't then it is a bit of a mess. Below are two samples of writing: one done in nice tidy print, the other in my usual scrawl. It does quite well with the first sample and horribly with the second. Obviously my normal upper case block printing is pretty hard on the OCR. And it certainly doesn't seem to like the way I prefer to form my letters. It may have helped to be sitting at a table rather than lying on my stomach on the bed scribbling away, but, then again, it is the portability I want. An interesting observation is th...

SweetiePie has invited me to share 5 facts about my self. I am male. My first name is Richard I am 42 I am married I have two children Ok, maybe that is a little too factual and not sufficiently revealing. So the question becomes one of, "Do I recycle old tidbits of information from my blog? Or do I give you fresh pieces of information?" Since I want to encourage people to read this blog, I prefer not to give out previously revealed information. On the other hand, I also don't want to give identity thieves too much personal information. Oh! The dilemma, the dilemma. I am sinister (in Latin nominative). My hair is naturally curly (and increasingly grey). I cannot read Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince or The Selfish Giant without crying. Actually, I cannot even finish them. These are the only two stories that affect me so and I unable to share them with my kids. When I was much younger, I didn't quite understand the movie classification system. I thought G meant...

You're Iceman from the X-Men movies You're the coolest person around! When other people's tempers heat up, you find a way to stay calm and focused. You're great at staying cool physically, too - who needs air conditioning when you can regulate your own body temperature? Like Bobby Drake, you might have trouble communicating with your family, but you have supportive friends who understand you. Since you never have to worry about getting too hot or too cold, you're great at outdoor sports like snowboarding. (I had hoped for Spiderman.) Nimbly nabbed from Elvina 's blog.

Tried out this recipe yesterday that I found inside a Baker's Dark Chocolate box. They are really, really good. Incredibly rich and decadent without drowning you in chocolate. Very, very suitable with a nice tall glass of cold milk. 112g (4oz) dark (70%) chocolate 125ml (1/2 cup) butter 250ml (1 cup) icing sugar 2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 90ml (6 tbsp) flour Ensure you have everything prepared before hand because the whole process is very quick. Preheat oven to 220C (425F). Butter and flour 4 custard cups (I had no idea what custard cups were, so I used a 4 muffin muffin tin – I really should have used a larger one, since I had enough batter for 6). Place the butter and chocolate in a reasonably large microwaveable dish. Microwave on high for about a minute. Whisk the melted butter and chocolate together until smooth. Add the icing sugar and blend. Add the eggs and yolks and blend (this was actually kind of tough, just keep going at it). Blend in the flour. Pour into prepared custard...

You're the time of day right around sunrise, when the sky is still a pale bluish gray. The streets are empty, and the grass and leaves are a little bit sparkly with dew and the day smells new. You are the sound of a few chirpy birds outside the window. You are quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If you move slowly, it's not because you're lazy – it's because you know there's no reason to rush. You move like a relaxed cat, pausing for deep stretches that make your muscles feel alive. You are long sips of tea or coffee (out of a mug that's held with both hands) that slowly warm your insides just as the sun is brightening the sky. (Courteously borrowed from Ingrid 's blog.)

it's just that I wanted to live; to enjoy life in all its fullness." Rowan Yew, age 43, a first class dilettante and entrepreneur, lay in his bed, covered up to his chin, in his darkened bedroom. Attending him were his friends, Dr. Jason Reselda, the eminent pathologist, and Gabriel Malachi, the no less distinguished geneticist. While all three were super-achievers, Rowan led the pack; his power, opulence and extravagance a testament to his ability to seize opportunities and profit from them. He did nothing by half measures and never considered failure as a possible outcome. "That's good to hear, because dying is just what you are doing", said Jason. "Are you sure?" "I see no other outcome. The last sample I examined continues to show an expanding infection. In fact, you are more pathogen than man. You should have been dead long ago." "Then perhaps I am not dying." "You're dying alright. Shortly you will cease to be a ...

I saw Metropolis about 15 years ago and then read the book about 8 years later. The book is better than the movie. As I grow older, the futile image of constantly feeding and tending the machines grows stronger in my mind. I recognized pater noster as Latin for Our Father (as in the opening of the Lord's Prayer) and assumed that Thea von Harbou's references to the pater noster machine were overt references to a machine that consumed and ate its workers (much like Cronus in Greek mythology ate his children – or perhaps Moloch, to whom children were sacrificed). I only recently discovered that a pater noster machine is a type of slow moving elevator invented in 1884 . Image nabbed from here .

I am going to take a bit of a hiatus from blogging. I will probably post on 22 or 26 January (mother's birth and death dates, respectively) as well as 18 February (my birthday). Until then:

When I was much younger, I had great interest in the occult and paranormal. When I was 13, for Christmas of 1979, I asked for and got a book called The Compleat Astrologer . I wanted this book because it showed you how to draw up a horoscope as well as providing interpretation guides and planetary tables from 1905 until 1979 - which put it far ahead of any other books on astrology which simply were describptive, but didn't show you how to do it hands on. I have no crystal ball and I have long dismissed divination, however let us see what the new year brings forth. And may it be good for all of us. Images scanned by me but remain the property and copyright of Bantam books.

Some soccer action from Tania this past summer. For some reason they have difficulty painting straight lines in Montreal. This is on Brunswick, just across from the Fairview Shopping Centre. You can see the satellite shot here Some Rose Hip found growing along Lac St. Louis. A morning glory found growing among some purple flowers in Parc Summerlea along Lac St. Louis. Google map here . Some soccer action from Jason this past summer. Jason and a horsehhoe crab when we were in New York in August. Giraffe's have blue tongues as can be seen. This is an edible mushroom. However it has no flavour, so there is little point. A mother duck and her ducklings. Taken in Parc Summerlea along Lac St. Louis. Tania and my goddaughter.

I was tagged by Tin-Tin and I have to tag some people later. The instructions are: 1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given below: family , friend , yourself , love , anything you like . 2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. 3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments. Hmmm ... don't understand the comment part. Am I supposed to leave comments on my posts? I think I will wait for clarification from Tin-Tin . Who to tag? Who to tag? Last time I tagged people it was MOI , KayMac , breal , tin-tin , and Barbara . So this time I will tag: Ingrid , Carra , Tena , Cavalock , and Freckled One . If I didn't tag you and you want to play, please feel free to appropriate this meme. Image nabbed from here .

A pretty good fan made trailer of interest only to Doctor Who fans. Doctor Who is the world's longest running sci-fi TV show. It started in 1963 and ran until 1989. There was a made for TV movie in 1996 and the series was revived in 2005. The new series begins following the Last Great Time War between the Doctor's race and the Daleks which resulted in the total extermination of both races. Only the Doctor survived - leaving him a bit hard edged and moody.